No runner too little at Big Sur Half Marathon event

The great thing about being 7 is that you can pretend you're a big boy if you want.

That's what Tallon Smith did Saturday on the first day of Big Sur Half Marathon weekend.

"He was supposed to run the 3K (children's race) today, but he accidentally did the 5K," his mother, Shirley Smith, said with a laugh. "And he did pretty well."

Did he have fun? "Yes," said Tallon, who attends Toro Park Elementary School.

Was it hard to run 5K instead of 3K? "Not really," declared the man of few words.

His 45-year-old mom, a Boston Marathon veteran and Big Sur International Marathon board member, did pretty well, too, placing second among women in the 45-49 age group and 12th among women overall on a sunny, 55-degree morning.

But she seemed more proud of her little boy at the finish line, and applauded the Big Sur marathon's Just Run program, designed to inspire children ages 5 to 12 to exercise and eat healthy.

"Tallon is part of the Just Run program, which I've been involved with since the beginning, and he just loves it," said Smith, a Spreckels resident. "What's wonderful about the program is it really gets children motivated to exercise. Teachers get involved. The kids get excited about races like this because all of their friends are running, too."

The free, web-based program started in 2004 and is taking off. More than 8,300 children enrolled in the first two months of the school year — 5,000 more than at the same time last year, program director Susan Love said in a statement. The program is hoping to enroll 15,000 students by the end of the school year.

Just Run is in place at 73 schools in 13 states, including 40 schools in Monterey County. Sometime next year, one young runner will be honored by reaching the program's 2 millionth mile.

Although Tallon left his classmates behind to run the 5K, about 450 children — some part of Just Run, others simply running on their own — did the 3K race through Pacific Grove. Most wore an ear-to-ear grin when they crossed the finish line.

"It was fun," said Juventino Gutierrez III, 9, who traveled from Long Beach with his family to run in the race. "I've been in many other races — other 3Ks and 5Ks — so I didn't really have to train to get ready for today. I got a cramp in my side, but I just walked and rested and it went away."

The Gutierrezes weren't the only ones to make a family day of it. Monterey mom Hayley Rondia pushed her 22-month-old twins, Ian and Nathan, along the course, which she ran alongside her 4-year-old daughter, Norah.

"This is the first time she's ever run in any kind of race and she did wonderful," Rondia boasted. "My husband and I are both runners, and we'll be excited to put Norah in the Just Run program when she's old enough. We believe in starting them young."

Saturday's feature event, the Pacific Grove Lighthouse 5K, was won for the second time in three years by Monterey resident Eric Palmer, who scorched the course with a time of 15 minutes, 58 seconds to lead San Francisco's Michael Walters (16:07) and Monterey's Dan Welsh (16:25) to the finish line.

"It was a tough field today, but I just stuck with the group, paced myself correctly, and was able to pull it off in the last mile," said Palmer, a 29-year-old Los Angeles native who ran on the cross country team at CSU Monterey Bay. "... I've been training hard — 50 to 70 miles a week — and I felt great today."

First to the line among women was UC Santa Cruz cross country runner Kristin King, who finished in 19:24.

"I started out a little slower than usual today, then kind of picked it up at the end," said King, 20, who ran with several college teammates, all wearing school colors.

The second-place finisher, 31-year-old Rocklin resident Elisabeth Davidson, clocked in at 20:38, and Ruby Wood, 18, of Santa Cruz was third in 21:02.

About 9,000 runners — some of whom are world-class — will compete in Sunday's Big Sur Half Marathon, which begins at 7 a.m. on Del Monte Avenue and Figueroa Street near downtown Monterey.